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☀️ Win for Yarmouth's Beloved Lobsterman

☀️ Win for Yarmouth's Beloved Lobsterman

Plus: P-Town Icon Serves Its Final Summer

Cape Coddah
May 22, 2026

Presented by:

Good morning Cape Cod and happy Memorial Day weekend. Whatever the weather does, let's remember what this weekend is actually about, honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country. Rain or shine, that part doesn't change. 🇺🇸

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Researchers spying on the bay sharks
Habitat coming to Falmouth
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

📋 Summer Worker Crunch Hits the Cape

Cape Cod's summer economy is bracing for a staffing crunch. The J-1 visa program, which brings around 5,000 foreign college students to the Cape each summer to work hotels, restaurants, and attractions, is facing major delays under the administration's increased scrutiny.

Nearly a quarter of this year's J-1 students still don't have visa appointments. The holdups stem from State Department staff cuts, World Cup visa demands, and a new process that combs through applicants' social media. Businesses are feeling it.

A Falmouth innkeeper is paying more overtime and picking up a paintbrush himself. Students like Arianna Gonzalez in Colombia are waking up at night to check for earlier appointments. Some have given up entirely. Without enough workers, the Chamber of Commerce warns, some businesses may have to cut hours or services. Read more»

🦈 Spying on Cape Cod Bay's White Sharks

Forget the seal-hunting sharks off Nauset Beach. This summer, researchers are turning their attention to Cape Cod Bay, where smaller white sharks behave completely differently.

Last summer, a team tagged 17 white sharks in the bay, confirming what local fishermen have said for years. These younger sharks aren't seal-eaters and aren't approaching the beaches, so there's less danger to swimmers. Using high-tech camera tags that trail behind the sharks' fins, scientists can now track their every move and want to understand whether the bay is essential habitat for growing sharks.

The same sharks get tracked as far as the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas in winter. Experts also have a safety message as summer crowds return. Don't get complacent. Watch your depth, avoid seals and schools of fish, and don't swim at dusk or dawn.. Read more»

SPONSORED BY: CAPE SZN

🦈 The Incredibly Honest Cape Cod Shirt

Look, the Cape's got a lot going for it, world-class beaches, incredible sunsets, the best clam chowder you'll ever eat. There's also... the sharks. Might as well lean into it.

This tee is for anyone with a sense of humor about the Cape's most famous summer residents. Soft, cotton, and guaranteed to start conversations everywhere from the beach parking lot to the ice cream shop. Perfect for locals who've heard every shark joke twice and visitors who want a souvenir with a little personality.

Because if you're going to live here (or visit), you might as well laugh about it. 🙂

🦞 Win for Yarmouth's Beloved Lobsterman

Good news for the "lobsterman of Yarmouth." After a year and a half of hearings, a bylaw change, and a special town meeting, Jon Tolley finally got approval to sell lobsters from his West Yarmouth home again.

The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4 to 1 to approve a special permit. Tolley had been selling his catch from his Iroquois Boulevard home for 50 years, and his father did the same for nearly 30 years before that, until he was cited in August 2024 for violating 1982 zoning rules.

A wave of community support pushed the town to craft a new bylaw allowing the sales. The permit lets him sell live, self-caught shellfish from 11-7 daily through October. It lasts only as long as Tolley keeps selling. Read more»

📸 @capeimagesbyamie |📍Paines Creek

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🔨 Habitat's 7-Day Build Returns to Falmouth

Here's something good happening on the Cape. Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association are teaming up again for their next Blitz Build, where a whole house gets built from frame to finish in just one week.

It's set for September 2026 at 805 Gifford St. Extension in Falmouth, one of four affordable homes going up behind the Habitat ReStore. This marks the seventh partnership between the two groups, who've done similar builds in Orleans, Harwich, Brewster, and Dennis.

Habitat has built nearly 200 homes across the Cape so far. Future homeowners are chosen by drawing and pitch in "sweat equity" by helping build their own homes alongside volunteers. The houses are sold with affordable mortgages and deed-restricted to stay affordable forever. Read more»

A Massachusetts couple's $415,000 Brewster fixer-upper renovation was featured on Magnolia Network's "Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation", capturing the chaos of a $125,000 reno completed in the months leading up to their wedding.

The State Library of Massachusetts is highlighting its collection of historical documents on the Cape Cod Canal, with maps, books, and pamphlets available for anyone curious about how we ended up with the Sagamore and Bourne.

The CapeFLYER weekend train from Boston to Hyannis returns for its 13th season starting today, offering a traffic-free way to reach the Cape with a café car, free wifi, and bikes and pets welcome aboard.

Sleeping overnight on Cape Cod's public beaches is generally illegal without a permit, with federal, state, and town rules all restricting camping, though a few designated campgrounds and the National Seashore's vehicle corridor offer legal options.

🍽️ P-Town Icon Serves Its Final Summer

The bright yellow building on Commercial Street is living on borrowed time. Bubala's by the Bay, a Provincetown favorite for over 30 years, opened May 15 for what's likely its final season.

Owner John "Jingles" Yingling, who also owns Spiritus Pizza and Local 186, says running a restaurant Bubala's size has gotten too tough, with rising food costs and the constant struggle to find workers and housing for them. Local restaurateur Victor DePoalo has the property under agreement for $7M and plans to close in October.

His proposal would demolish Bubala's and build a mixed-use development with a restaurant and lounge, 11 hotel rooms, and 10 condos (two sold affordably through a lottery). The plan still needs several approvals. Longtime staff are heartbroken. "Losing Bubala's is such a loss for the town." Read more»

Cash buyers are dominating Martha's Vineyard real estate, making up 41% of all sales over the past year and a staggering 72% of homes over $5M, which experts say is both fueling and reflecting the island's sky-high prices.

The 55th annual Figawi sailboat race from Hyannis to Nantucket sets sail this Saturday, kicking off Nantucket's season with hundreds of boats and a weekend of parties on both ends.

Martha’s Vineyard votes June 2 on its most expensive building project ever, a $333.5M high school renovation, and committee members are trying to explain why it costs so much.

Nantucket's beloved Downyflake is making a comeback after a year and a half away, joining forces with the Fairgrounds restaurant to serve its famous donuts, coffee, and breakfast under one roof starting late June.

The Cape Coddah is 100% free to read and independently owned (written by me).

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Thank you for your support!
~Kari

⚖️ "Untouchable" Judge Faces Charges

The first justice of the Orleans District Court is now facing domestic violence charges. Robert Welsh, 60, of Sandwich allegedly assaulted a woman on multiple occasions and repeatedly told her he was "untouchable" because of his position as a judge.

According to court filings, the victim said Welsh was often intoxicated, even showing up to work hungover, and grew more aggressive when drinking. In one January incident, she says he grabbed her arm so hard she had to bite him to get free, then kicked her in the genitals while wearing a shoe. She showed police photos of the bruising.

Welsh was placed on administrative duties on May 11 and faces two charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60. His first court appearance is June 11. Read more»

👋 Meet: Stubby
🐾 Border Collie
🎂 2 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

FRIDAY - MAY 22

Story Time w/ Anna @ Wellfleet Library | 11:30
Pottery w/ Amy @ Creative Arts Center | 12 PM
The Narrow Land @ Wellfleet Harbor Actors | 7

SUNDAY - MAY 24

Jazz Jam @ Cult. Cent. CC | 12 PM
Kevin James Graham @ Love Farms | 1 PM
High Attitude @ Red Nun | 3 PM
Leah & Colleen @ Island Pickle | 3 PM
Bode Corona @ Bad Martha’s | 3 PM
John Griffin @ The Lanyard | 4 PM
Fran Fenton @ Torino | 6 PM
Matt Koelsch @ Hooked Bar & Grille | 6 PM
Autumn Drive @ Neptune’s CC | 6 PM
Sean Brennan @ Margaritaville | 8 PM
Maddi Ryan @ The Woodshed | 9:30 PM
South Pleasant Revival @ Chatham Squire | 10

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll let you know when something's sponsored.}

Friday

59 🌡️ 44 | 🌤️ | 💧 0% | 💨 NE 10 mph

Saturday

63 🌡️ 48 | ☁️ | 💧 5% | 💨 ENE 7 mph

Sunday

56 🌡️ 53 | 🌧️ | 💧 97% | 💨 ESE 15 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 54ºF

8 Babcock Lane, West Dennis
Asking $1.499M
4 🛏️
2.5 🛁
1,464 sqft
0.26 acre lot

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll always let you know when something's sponsored.}

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